Quick Bites: Forrest Wood Open, Day 3

Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Forrest Wood Open
Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Friday, Pro semifinals, Co-angler finals

Breakfast with Yelas … It is official. Pro Jay Yelas is the 2002 FLW Angler of the Year, so look for him on your Kellogg’s box sometime soon. Needing a 16th-place finish or better this week to overtake the points leader coming into the event, Kevin VanDam, Yelas placed 10th in Friday’s semifinals and assured himself of at least a 10th-place finish by making the cut into the finals. Almost everyone, including Yelas himself, had basically conceded the title to VanDam before the week began. But VanDam bonked in the opening round (by his high standards – he still finished in the upper half of the field in 44th place, but it was his worst FLW tournament on record), and that left the door open for Yelas. And he walked through it. Or, to hear him tell it, he kind of crept through it. “It was really tough today and I really struggled,” said Yelas. “I only had 10 pounds in my livewell when I caught my biggest fish with five minutes to go. When stuff like that happens, you know it’s meant to be.” One of the big reasons Yelas didn’t think he would win – besides the idea that he had to beat the indomitable VanDam – was his frustrating performance at the last FLW tourney. At Old Hickory Lake, Yelas watched as his co-angler partner on day two, Danny Strand, caught 8 pounds more than he did (in fact, Strand caught 7 pounds more than the entire co-angler field that day) while both were using the same spinner bait. “Talk about perseverance, I had the worst day of my career at that last tournament,” said Yelas. “But I’ve never won angler of the year on a national circuit before, so this is a big thrill.”

Big-time top 10 … A quick glance at the 2002 Forrest Wood Open pro finalists and you’ll see some familiar names. Save leader Todd Auten, an FLW rookie, everyone on the list has already made a name for himself in professional fishing at some point or another. Not only is the Angler of the Year, Yelas, fishing Saturday, four former FLW winners, the Ranger M1 winner and the world-record holder for biggest tournament five-fish stringer will be competing:

– Scott Martin, Tommy Biffle and Jim Moynagh each have one FLW victory under their respective belts already.
– Rick Clunn is the FLW all-time leading money winner with $748,350, leads in final-round appearances with 11 and has three tournament victories.
– David Dudley collected the largest cash prize ever in freshwater tournament fishing history, $700,000, when he won the Ranger M1 tournament in February.
– Dean Rojas crushed the world record for a five-bass stringer when he caught 45 pounds, 2 ounces at a B.A.S.S. event at Lake Toho in 2000.
– Mark Hardin caught the heaviest one-day stringer on the FLW Tour last year with a weight of 24-15 at Lake Okeechobee.
– Sam Newby led the FLW points race for the first part of the year and is currently ranked ninth. He will move even further back up in the standings after Saturday’s finals.

With so much experience, you can bet they’re all equally focused on one thing Saturday: to take home the Open trophy and the $210,000 check. “It would be huge (to win this FLW event). It would be one of the highlights of my career,” said Rojas, who will finish the year third in points. Said Moynagh, who won the Forrest Wood Open in 1997 and has since had a relative drought of quality finishes, “To repeat (as Open champion) would make up for a lot of things I’ve experienced over the last three years. But it comes down to reading the water and the fish, and all of the pros in this event are very experienced in reading the water and fish.”

Richardson’s baby … Pro Joel Richardson didn’t make the final-round cut, but even if he did, he might not have competed Saturday anyway. “My wife is just about ready to have her first child,” he explained during the weigh-in. “If she did have this baby (tonight) and I make the cut, I believe I would leave here. Yeah, I’ve had my mind on other things for about a week.” No word on the baby yet, but Richardson’s cell phone stayed quiet throughout the afternoon’s proceedings and he didn’t make any mad dashes for the door.

The great Grigsby pulls a disappearing act … Opening-round leader Chad Grigsby caught just one bass for 4 pounds, 4 ounces Friday and finished in 20th place. He seemed to be on a roll. What happened? “I thought I had a really good area, but it got really dirty,” he said. “I only got one bite – and I caught it.”

Quick numbers

165: Collective number of fish weighed in by the 40 pros and co-anglers in the semifinal round.
19: Out of 20, number of pros who weighed in a five-bass limit in Friday’s semifinals – another FLW record.
8: Out of 20, co-anglers who weighed in a limit.

Sound bites (a collection of praise for Lake Champlain)

“I’ve been fishing down south for about six months now and it’s been some tough fishing. It’s great to be home because this is the best fishing in the country.”
– Pro Jimmi Leuthner, who hails from Connecticut

“I never thought I’d say there’s a better smallmouth lake than St. Clair, but Champlain is fabulous.”
– Michigan pro Kim Stricker

“Without a doubt, this is the best lake in the United States. It has largemouth. It has smallmouth. It has it all.”
– David Dudley

“With its smallmouth and largemouth populations and its scenic beauty, it’s probably number-one in the country.”
– Rick Clunn

Quick links, Day 3:

Yelas storms back to win 2002 FLW Angler-of-the-Year title
Lisek wins co-angler title on Lake Champlain
Photos
Results
Press release